WMC: Chapter Two (REVISED)
Again, All comments would be accepted
Chapter 2
"Well, after that horrible date, he asked for my phone number, so he could call me back," Rita Jones was saying as Elizabeth entered Mia's 'room'. It could hardly be called a room considering it was really a suite. Mia had been the only person willing to take it since it was so high up in the tower and disconnected from the rest of the base. "So I gave him the number of my psychologist. One of those that cost about $20 per call. He called her and ended up running a bill of $200."
"I bet he wasn't happy after that."
"Actually, Zora, he was grateful. Turns out, he ended up marrying my psychologist. They even gave me credit for getting them together. It was an odd thing."
"Where's Mia?" The two women looked up at Elizabeth from their positions on the bed near the back of the room that actually served as Mia's bedroom.
"She took Teyla down to the kitchens. They are gathering the food and such. Teyla wanted to add a few Athosian items to the list." Elizabeth nodded to show she had heard and joined the two sitting on the bed. As the other two continued to discuss their various former love interests, Elizabeth studied them. Seri Del had said something interesting to her earlier in the day, shortly before they went to the gate room to say goodbye. 'The people who work for you are not all what they seem. Some are more then you would expect.' Even though she had no interest in anyone's physical appearance, she figured that would be a good place to start if one was doing a full analysis of someone.
Rita had been Stargate program since she had graduated with her doctorate 15 years before. She had short curly brown hair that had along with her short height had earned her the title of "Dr. Hobbit". While she was 52, she did not look it that much, having a youthful appearance and if she hadn't read the woman's file she would have thought her around 28 years old. When asked, she always said hard work and laughter kept her young. However, she was one person who liked to say what she thought and do what she thought should be done. Elizabeth didn't think the woman liked to hide anything.
Zora Grayson-Roberts was a stereotypically beautiful blonde. She looked the opposite in color of her sister Mia and not much older despite the 16-year difference between the two. Her hair, which was a shade of golden blonde, but not exactly strawberry, hung down to her mid back and was usually kept it in a pony tale or bun with a pencil inserted in case of need. Her eyes were a deep green color. She reminded Elizabeth of a blonde Jill Hennessy. The woman was also a brilliant doctor, very much up to the standards that Carson Beckett had started. The two worked wonderfully together, and it helped a lot to have two doctors capable of running the infirmary in case one of them was needed off world. She specialized in pediatrics but was a general practitioner.
"Everyone having fun?" Elizabeth looked behind her to see Mia and Teyla walking though the door with boxes. They put them down on the large chest that sat next to the bed at the end. They had brought several bottles of soda; some brownies that Mia had managed to get the ingredients for, some Athosian treat that looked a lot like fudge and a bunch of various other highly sugary foods.
Like before, Elizabeth wondered at the lack of resemblance between Mia and Zora. The one thing they seemed to have in common was their height. Both girls were around the same height as her, although usually Mia looked taller due to the boots she wore, which had heels. Mia's hair, unlike her sisters, was very dark, almost black and was cut at the shoulders with a slight flare out. Her eyes were a light brown, almost the clichéd chocolate color. Also unlike her sister, you never saw her wearing light colors like lavender or any other pastel. She tended to wear blues and blacks, with the occasional red and white. She also had never been seen in a skirt or dress in the three years Elizabeth had known her. Mia was the opposite of her sister in many ways. The girl couldn't stand being in the infirmary and had been known to escape often, usually being caught by her sister or John, who seemed to expect it. But then again, he also tried to escape often.
"Yeah. We were discussing Rita's old boyfriends."
"Sounds like an interesting conversational piece."
"Remember Sgt. Frankenstein?" Mia and Zora both shuddered.
"What was wrong with him?" Teyla asked, and Elizabeth looked to the three others for explanation.
"Lets just say," Mia started, "He is very much like his namesake. He was not a people person. Who wants brownies?"
_ _
"Ladies," Rita started slightly unintelligible due to the unlit cigar she had in her mouth. Rita was playing the part of a pro-poker player tonight. She had a green visor on, a cigar in her mouth and the woman knew how to shuffle her cards. "Tonight we will be playing a little game we call "low-down" Poker. To play, you each get five cards. Unlike in normal poker, in low down the lowest hand wins." Rita dealt the five cards per person, herself last and pointed to Elizabeth. "Why don't you open the betting?"
"Betting? I can't allow gambling on the base. You know that was an SGC rule."
"I have an idea," Mia interjected, organizing her cards. "Instead of betting money, we can bet various things like dares or duties, even questions we are dying to know about." The other four looked at each other and then agreed. It sounded like a good alternative to the real bets. Mia walked over to her desk, took out a small notebook, and gave each person a couple pieces and a pen to write down their 'bets'. When they were done, Elizabeth once again started.
"I open with a question." She placed the small piece of paper laying face down on the center of the table.
__
"I fold." Zora put down her cards and reached for her drink. They had been playing the game for two hours. About half way through Zora had made some mock-tails for the group. They also had opened a package of chocolate versions of Rita's cigar that Sam Carter had sent them to celebrate 4 years of being for Atlantis. The brownies and various other junk foods were almost gone, but Mia had gotten enough that they could open more if needed.
"I need two." Rita handed Teyla, who was becoming very good at the game, two cards. Mia sipped her Orange Oasis while studying her cards as the action took place. So far, she hadn't lost but her hand was a royal. It did not look good.
"Draw three." She took the three cards. "Did you hear what the latest group bet on the base is?"
"Draw one. No, and I thought I said no gambling on Atlantis," Elizabeth answered.
"This isn't that big of a deal. The highest amount allowed to bet is 100 dollars. Besides some of them have nothing better to do with the money they earn. After all, how many times do they actually get to go back to Earth for leave?"
"What's the bet on?" Teyla said as she studied her new set of cards. "Check."
"The bet is actually on Zora and Carson. Check."
"What!!" Zora looked at her sister in surprise. "Why on earth would they bet on us?"
"Well, it's on your romantic life together. There are three options. One, You two get together within the next two weeks following the end of the betting pool, which was today. Two, you two get together within the next two months and Three, You two never get together. Most are betting on weeks."
"Please tell me that you didn't bet. Check."
"Of course not." Mia smiled as the three still in the game presented their cards. She frowned as she realized she still had the highest hand, making her loose the round. "I had John bet for me."
"Mia!"
"I know, I know. Shouldn't have done that, but seriously Sis! You two make a great couple. Both doctors, both smart people. He loves Nick so that's not a problem and we all know you like him."
"That's not the point. Just read your losses."
Mia smiled at her, as any younger sister would at annoying their older sister. However, it had told her what she had wanted to know. She hadn't made up the bet but she wouldn't have mentioned it except to see how Zora would react. If she had really not cared about Carson as more than a friend she would have laughed and even put money down on never.
"Alright.” She held up the first piece of paper. "Loss #1: A Secret. Hmm… I have a tattoo on my back between my shoulders that I got during Spring Break when I was 19. Up until now, only three people knew about it and none of them were my parents." She picked up the second piece of paper, clearly written in her writing and put it back into her stack. She picked up Elizabeth's note and read it aloud as she had Teyla's. "Loss #2: A Dare. See me." Mia turned to Elizabeth.
"You have to wear that dress."
"Oh, come on." Mia hated to wear dresses. She had only brought that particular one because she had designed it herself.
"You lost the hand, Mia," Teyla reminded. "You must participate in the Dare."
Mia sighed and stood up. She had been the one who'd had the idea of the questions/dares/duties part of it to make up for the lack of gambling chips and Elizabeth's view on betting and as such she had to do it simply on principle. Walking over to her closet, she reached to the back, far from sight, and brought out the dress. At that moment, she regretted ever letting it slip that it existed.
She had designed it figuring that if she was going to have to wear a dress it might as well be something she had made. It was a strapless dress with an empire waist, the top part decorated in dark brown and black beads that ended in strands around the waist in a chandelier effect. The bottom was lined with a dark material to match the top. Zora had called it the "Chocolate Vanilla dress" due to the contrast between the creamy white and dark browns and blacks. Mia had asked why she didn't call it “Twist” after the ice cream but apparently it didn't look like twist. It still confused her. Everyone had liked it, except Mia who didn't like dresses anyway. She showed them the dress, glared at them for making her wear it, which caused them to laugh, and then walked into the bathroom to change.
"I can't believe she put a bet on me." Zora said, shifting her newly received cards. "Especially when we all know she likes him. Doesn't anyone think they are going to get together?"
"No," Rita said simply, "Because Mia and Carson don't have what it takes to have a romantic relationship. Friends, yes, but nothing more. She understands that he's not interested in her and I think she's not really interested in him as much as she says she is."
"I'll open with a question," Teyla said as she put one of her papers in the center of the table.
"Honestly, if Mia is going to go with anyone it will be Aiden or John," Rita continued, throwing in her question. "Aiden's only a few years older and they are pretty close. She also has that quasi thing going on with John that I haven't been able to explain yet."
"See and raise you a dare. Does she have to go with anyone? I thought she had someone back on earth," Elizabeth commented
"No, sweetheart, that would be you." Rita paused as Zora threw in her contribution. "I am of the opinion that on this base, there is an ample match for every person. Just some tend to try to ignore it and others need help realizing it's there."
"You’re not going to try and match-make again, are you?" Zora said, putting her cards on the table upside down while she looked at her friend.
"Don't worry, dearie. You're not one of those on my list. I figure you're on the denial list."
"Draw one. And who is on this list," Teyla asked, curious.
"Draw One. Well, first there is Elizabeth and Rodney." Rita looked over at Elizabeth pointy as the woman was staring at her cards.
"Really? And how exactly do you plan to do that. Draw three." Elizabeth's voice showed she was skeptical. She seemed tense as well, which made Rita smile. Sometimes it wasn't the words a person said that told the truth, it was the body language.
"Easily. I got you thinking about it haven't I?" Rita smiled and asked Zora, the current dealer, for two cards. They looked over as they heard the bathroom door open and Mia step out wearing the gown.
"I came, I wore, and now I shall go take it off," she said as she started back towards the bathroom.
"Oh, no you don't. I said you had to wear it," Elizabeth said playfully. She smiled at Mia who looked as if she was being asked to eat spinach.
"Actually, Elizabeth, you never said how long and I am indeed wearing it now so I fulfilled my loss. Besides, if I sat in it, it would get all wrinkly and I'd end up dropping Salsa or my drink on it.
"True. You can be a klutz sometimes Mia." Zora laughed when Mia hit her in the head with a pillow playfully. It wasn't long before it became an all-out pillow fight. Someone knocked on the door. The five women looked at each other with surprise before Mia walked to the door to answer it, smoothing out her dress a bit.
Standing on the other side of the door were John, Rodney, Aiden and Carson ready to placate their crashing with chocolate.
"Who is it Mia?" Zora called from the table.
"The boys have come to crash our party," she replied looking at John with a half glare. She had known he would come. Rodney and Carson were a surprise though.
"I wouldn't exactly call it crashing; I would say more of bringing extra people to the party." Mia raised an eyebrow but did not say anything. Mia laughed inwardly as she watched as their facial expressions changed to slightly shocked as it dawned on them what she was wearing. While most showed their shock, John didn't seem to be surprised. "I'm sorry but I wasn't informed of the change of dress code. You'll have to deal with what you got." He smirked at Mia and then walked around Mia.
"Might as well let them in. I want to see if Roddie is any good!" Rita leaned back and waved.
"Don't call me Roddie!" Rodney protested.
Mia rolled her eyes and stepped aside, allowing the other men into the room. So much for a girl’s night. However, she wasn't as disappointed as she thought she would be. It was more fun with the guys there anyway. She wondered if there was any chance at all to get the guys to wear Teyla's fruit crème on their faces like the girls had been wearing earlier. "Good at exactly what?" Rodney looked around the table, only seeing a mess of cocktail glasses, cards and junk food.
"Poker, my good man," Rita replied in a bad phony British accent, made even worse by the cigar still in her mouth. "Low-down to be precise. Dizzy Miss Lizzy here won't let us bet any money so we are betting various things like duties and dares. Also some questions thrown in if you want to be nice." She paused and bit off the tip of the cigar as she had seen men do when they went to light it. Her instant revolution was apparent. "Eh, how can men do that?" Mia held out a trashcan for Rita to spit it out in and handed her a chocolate cigar.
"That should taste better."
"You have been SMOKING!" The girls looked at Carson as he started his rant. "Do you realize how many health problems that might cause, particularly since we have no idea how cigar smoke affects humans in this form of atmosphere."
"Carson." Zora said in a calm tone.
"What?" Carson paused to look over at her, still in CMO mode.
"None of us smoked. We were joking around that we always see men with huge cigars playing poker, so Rita brought one. The others are chocolate and I don't think you can smoke milk chocolate." Carson looked slightly embarrassed at the mistake but didn't say anything.
"Why don't you boys sit down? We can play Team low-down."
"Rita, there are nine of us."
"Yeah, I know. Too bad Zelenka couldn't come. He's a master of poker,” Rita sighed. It was a well-known fact that she more than admired the Czech scientist. The only one who didn't know was the man himself.
"Well, I have to get changed anyway, so the rest of you can team up and play a hand while I'm away," Mia said moving towards the bathroom. They nodded and Rita started to shuffle the cards as everyone got situated. Aiden and Teyla were a team, as were Zora and Carson. Elizabeth and Rodney working together as a team as well but weren't looking at each other.
She walked into the bathroom and changed into her previous outfit. However, when she looked into the mirror it seemed as if it was liquid. A metallic silver color reminding her of when she had studied Mercury in chemistry class seemed to be growing and covering the walls around her. As it spread out around her the center of the mirror seemed to clear up and a scene became more visible.
Suddenly she was no longer in her bathroom, but in a hallway. The brush that had been in her hand was gone and her clothes had changed into something that looked like a reformed version of Princess Leia's outfit in “The Empire Strikes Back”, a long outer jacket that flowed to the floor with no sleeves. It was a dark blue while the outfit below was a lighter shade. The top was strapless and went down to about an inch above her navel and a skirt started right below it and flowed to the floor, getting slightly wider as it went down. Her hair was no longer in her regular ponytail but cut to her shoulders with bangs, a cut she always refused to get. Make-up was reminiscent of what she had seen of Ancient Egypt adorned her face if the reflection from the smooth marble of the statue that stood in front of her was to be believed.
The statue didn't seem that different. She had never seen it before, she knew that, but there was something familiar about it. Light fell on it from a beautiful stained glass ceiling, making the hallway- no room- look bright and colorful. It was the figure of a woman, a spear in one hand and a sword in another. The woman was tall, and the look upon her face showed determination. Her hair was styled very much in the style that Mia found herself wearing, but her face was more exotic looking. She wore what looked like a toga, reminding Mia of Lady Justice only without her blindfold. At her feet sat a small animal that looked like a cat, as well as a harp, a quill and paper.
The bottom was a block of the same material as was used in the Stargate, and had an inscription in Ancient written upon it.
"She would have been proud of you, my daughter." Mia turned to face the speaker and saw an old man standing near the entrance to the room. She could hear herself responding, even though she had no idea of who this man was or what she was doing there.
"I hope so, Father. I feel as if I have failed her. She defended this city with her life, and yet I am forced to abandon it."
"Different times call for different calls of action. You can not blame yourself." The room started to become blurry and Mia felt as if she was being pulled out of the scene. There was a part that wanted to stay and find out what on earth was going on, while the other part wanted to go back to where she knew what was going on.
She blinked and she was back in her bathroom, staring at her own reflection in the mirror.
Chapter 2
"Well, after that horrible date, he asked for my phone number, so he could call me back," Rita Jones was saying as Elizabeth entered Mia's 'room'. It could hardly be called a room considering it was really a suite. Mia had been the only person willing to take it since it was so high up in the tower and disconnected from the rest of the base. "So I gave him the number of my psychologist. One of those that cost about $20 per call. He called her and ended up running a bill of $200."
"I bet he wasn't happy after that."
"Actually, Zora, he was grateful. Turns out, he ended up marrying my psychologist. They even gave me credit for getting them together. It was an odd thing."
"Where's Mia?" The two women looked up at Elizabeth from their positions on the bed near the back of the room that actually served as Mia's bedroom.
"She took Teyla down to the kitchens. They are gathering the food and such. Teyla wanted to add a few Athosian items to the list." Elizabeth nodded to show she had heard and joined the two sitting on the bed. As the other two continued to discuss their various former love interests, Elizabeth studied them. Seri Del had said something interesting to her earlier in the day, shortly before they went to the gate room to say goodbye. 'The people who work for you are not all what they seem. Some are more then you would expect.' Even though she had no interest in anyone's physical appearance, she figured that would be a good place to start if one was doing a full analysis of someone.
Rita had been Stargate program since she had graduated with her doctorate 15 years before. She had short curly brown hair that had along with her short height had earned her the title of "Dr. Hobbit". While she was 52, she did not look it that much, having a youthful appearance and if she hadn't read the woman's file she would have thought her around 28 years old. When asked, she always said hard work and laughter kept her young. However, she was one person who liked to say what she thought and do what she thought should be done. Elizabeth didn't think the woman liked to hide anything.
Zora Grayson-Roberts was a stereotypically beautiful blonde. She looked the opposite in color of her sister Mia and not much older despite the 16-year difference between the two. Her hair, which was a shade of golden blonde, but not exactly strawberry, hung down to her mid back and was usually kept it in a pony tale or bun with a pencil inserted in case of need. Her eyes were a deep green color. She reminded Elizabeth of a blonde Jill Hennessy. The woman was also a brilliant doctor, very much up to the standards that Carson Beckett had started. The two worked wonderfully together, and it helped a lot to have two doctors capable of running the infirmary in case one of them was needed off world. She specialized in pediatrics but was a general practitioner.
"Everyone having fun?" Elizabeth looked behind her to see Mia and Teyla walking though the door with boxes. They put them down on the large chest that sat next to the bed at the end. They had brought several bottles of soda; some brownies that Mia had managed to get the ingredients for, some Athosian treat that looked a lot like fudge and a bunch of various other highly sugary foods.
Like before, Elizabeth wondered at the lack of resemblance between Mia and Zora. The one thing they seemed to have in common was their height. Both girls were around the same height as her, although usually Mia looked taller due to the boots she wore, which had heels. Mia's hair, unlike her sisters, was very dark, almost black and was cut at the shoulders with a slight flare out. Her eyes were a light brown, almost the clichéd chocolate color. Also unlike her sister, you never saw her wearing light colors like lavender or any other pastel. She tended to wear blues and blacks, with the occasional red and white. She also had never been seen in a skirt or dress in the three years Elizabeth had known her. Mia was the opposite of her sister in many ways. The girl couldn't stand being in the infirmary and had been known to escape often, usually being caught by her sister or John, who seemed to expect it. But then again, he also tried to escape often.
"Yeah. We were discussing Rita's old boyfriends."
"Sounds like an interesting conversational piece."
"Remember Sgt. Frankenstein?" Mia and Zora both shuddered.
"What was wrong with him?" Teyla asked, and Elizabeth looked to the three others for explanation.
"Lets just say," Mia started, "He is very much like his namesake. He was not a people person. Who wants brownies?"
_ _
"Ladies," Rita started slightly unintelligible due to the unlit cigar she had in her mouth. Rita was playing the part of a pro-poker player tonight. She had a green visor on, a cigar in her mouth and the woman knew how to shuffle her cards. "Tonight we will be playing a little game we call "low-down" Poker. To play, you each get five cards. Unlike in normal poker, in low down the lowest hand wins." Rita dealt the five cards per person, herself last and pointed to Elizabeth. "Why don't you open the betting?"
"Betting? I can't allow gambling on the base. You know that was an SGC rule."
"I have an idea," Mia interjected, organizing her cards. "Instead of betting money, we can bet various things like dares or duties, even questions we are dying to know about." The other four looked at each other and then agreed. It sounded like a good alternative to the real bets. Mia walked over to her desk, took out a small notebook, and gave each person a couple pieces and a pen to write down their 'bets'. When they were done, Elizabeth once again started.
"I open with a question." She placed the small piece of paper laying face down on the center of the table.
__
"I fold." Zora put down her cards and reached for her drink. They had been playing the game for two hours. About half way through Zora had made some mock-tails for the group. They also had opened a package of chocolate versions of Rita's cigar that Sam Carter had sent them to celebrate 4 years of being for Atlantis. The brownies and various other junk foods were almost gone, but Mia had gotten enough that they could open more if needed.
"I need two." Rita handed Teyla, who was becoming very good at the game, two cards. Mia sipped her Orange Oasis while studying her cards as the action took place. So far, she hadn't lost but her hand was a royal. It did not look good.
"Draw three." She took the three cards. "Did you hear what the latest group bet on the base is?"
"Draw one. No, and I thought I said no gambling on Atlantis," Elizabeth answered.
"This isn't that big of a deal. The highest amount allowed to bet is 100 dollars. Besides some of them have nothing better to do with the money they earn. After all, how many times do they actually get to go back to Earth for leave?"
"What's the bet on?" Teyla said as she studied her new set of cards. "Check."
"The bet is actually on Zora and Carson. Check."
"What!!" Zora looked at her sister in surprise. "Why on earth would they bet on us?"
"Well, it's on your romantic life together. There are three options. One, You two get together within the next two weeks following the end of the betting pool, which was today. Two, you two get together within the next two months and Three, You two never get together. Most are betting on weeks."
"Please tell me that you didn't bet. Check."
"Of course not." Mia smiled as the three still in the game presented their cards. She frowned as she realized she still had the highest hand, making her loose the round. "I had John bet for me."
"Mia!"
"I know, I know. Shouldn't have done that, but seriously Sis! You two make a great couple. Both doctors, both smart people. He loves Nick so that's not a problem and we all know you like him."
"That's not the point. Just read your losses."
Mia smiled at her, as any younger sister would at annoying their older sister. However, it had told her what she had wanted to know. She hadn't made up the bet but she wouldn't have mentioned it except to see how Zora would react. If she had really not cared about Carson as more than a friend she would have laughed and even put money down on never.
"Alright.” She held up the first piece of paper. "Loss #1: A Secret. Hmm… I have a tattoo on my back between my shoulders that I got during Spring Break when I was 19. Up until now, only three people knew about it and none of them were my parents." She picked up the second piece of paper, clearly written in her writing and put it back into her stack. She picked up Elizabeth's note and read it aloud as she had Teyla's. "Loss #2: A Dare. See me." Mia turned to Elizabeth.
"You have to wear that dress."
"Oh, come on." Mia hated to wear dresses. She had only brought that particular one because she had designed it herself.
"You lost the hand, Mia," Teyla reminded. "You must participate in the Dare."
Mia sighed and stood up. She had been the one who'd had the idea of the questions/dares/duties part of it to make up for the lack of gambling chips and Elizabeth's view on betting and as such she had to do it simply on principle. Walking over to her closet, she reached to the back, far from sight, and brought out the dress. At that moment, she regretted ever letting it slip that it existed.
She had designed it figuring that if she was going to have to wear a dress it might as well be something she had made. It was a strapless dress with an empire waist, the top part decorated in dark brown and black beads that ended in strands around the waist in a chandelier effect. The bottom was lined with a dark material to match the top. Zora had called it the "Chocolate Vanilla dress" due to the contrast between the creamy white and dark browns and blacks. Mia had asked why she didn't call it “Twist” after the ice cream but apparently it didn't look like twist. It still confused her. Everyone had liked it, except Mia who didn't like dresses anyway. She showed them the dress, glared at them for making her wear it, which caused them to laugh, and then walked into the bathroom to change.
"I can't believe she put a bet on me." Zora said, shifting her newly received cards. "Especially when we all know she likes him. Doesn't anyone think they are going to get together?"
"No," Rita said simply, "Because Mia and Carson don't have what it takes to have a romantic relationship. Friends, yes, but nothing more. She understands that he's not interested in her and I think she's not really interested in him as much as she says she is."
"I'll open with a question," Teyla said as she put one of her papers in the center of the table.
"Honestly, if Mia is going to go with anyone it will be Aiden or John," Rita continued, throwing in her question. "Aiden's only a few years older and they are pretty close. She also has that quasi thing going on with John that I haven't been able to explain yet."
"See and raise you a dare. Does she have to go with anyone? I thought she had someone back on earth," Elizabeth commented
"No, sweetheart, that would be you." Rita paused as Zora threw in her contribution. "I am of the opinion that on this base, there is an ample match for every person. Just some tend to try to ignore it and others need help realizing it's there."
"You’re not going to try and match-make again, are you?" Zora said, putting her cards on the table upside down while she looked at her friend.
"Don't worry, dearie. You're not one of those on my list. I figure you're on the denial list."
"Draw one. And who is on this list," Teyla asked, curious.
"Draw One. Well, first there is Elizabeth and Rodney." Rita looked over at Elizabeth pointy as the woman was staring at her cards.
"Really? And how exactly do you plan to do that. Draw three." Elizabeth's voice showed she was skeptical. She seemed tense as well, which made Rita smile. Sometimes it wasn't the words a person said that told the truth, it was the body language.
"Easily. I got you thinking about it haven't I?" Rita smiled and asked Zora, the current dealer, for two cards. They looked over as they heard the bathroom door open and Mia step out wearing the gown.
"I came, I wore, and now I shall go take it off," she said as she started back towards the bathroom.
"Oh, no you don't. I said you had to wear it," Elizabeth said playfully. She smiled at Mia who looked as if she was being asked to eat spinach.
"Actually, Elizabeth, you never said how long and I am indeed wearing it now so I fulfilled my loss. Besides, if I sat in it, it would get all wrinkly and I'd end up dropping Salsa or my drink on it.
"True. You can be a klutz sometimes Mia." Zora laughed when Mia hit her in the head with a pillow playfully. It wasn't long before it became an all-out pillow fight. Someone knocked on the door. The five women looked at each other with surprise before Mia walked to the door to answer it, smoothing out her dress a bit.
Standing on the other side of the door were John, Rodney, Aiden and Carson ready to placate their crashing with chocolate.
"Who is it Mia?" Zora called from the table.
"The boys have come to crash our party," she replied looking at John with a half glare. She had known he would come. Rodney and Carson were a surprise though.
"I wouldn't exactly call it crashing; I would say more of bringing extra people to the party." Mia raised an eyebrow but did not say anything. Mia laughed inwardly as she watched as their facial expressions changed to slightly shocked as it dawned on them what she was wearing. While most showed their shock, John didn't seem to be surprised. "I'm sorry but I wasn't informed of the change of dress code. You'll have to deal with what you got." He smirked at Mia and then walked around Mia.
"Might as well let them in. I want to see if Roddie is any good!" Rita leaned back and waved.
"Don't call me Roddie!" Rodney protested.
Mia rolled her eyes and stepped aside, allowing the other men into the room. So much for a girl’s night. However, she wasn't as disappointed as she thought she would be. It was more fun with the guys there anyway. She wondered if there was any chance at all to get the guys to wear Teyla's fruit crème on their faces like the girls had been wearing earlier. "Good at exactly what?" Rodney looked around the table, only seeing a mess of cocktail glasses, cards and junk food.
"Poker, my good man," Rita replied in a bad phony British accent, made even worse by the cigar still in her mouth. "Low-down to be precise. Dizzy Miss Lizzy here won't let us bet any money so we are betting various things like duties and dares. Also some questions thrown in if you want to be nice." She paused and bit off the tip of the cigar as she had seen men do when they went to light it. Her instant revolution was apparent. "Eh, how can men do that?" Mia held out a trashcan for Rita to spit it out in and handed her a chocolate cigar.
"That should taste better."
"You have been SMOKING!" The girls looked at Carson as he started his rant. "Do you realize how many health problems that might cause, particularly since we have no idea how cigar smoke affects humans in this form of atmosphere."
"Carson." Zora said in a calm tone.
"What?" Carson paused to look over at her, still in CMO mode.
"None of us smoked. We were joking around that we always see men with huge cigars playing poker, so Rita brought one. The others are chocolate and I don't think you can smoke milk chocolate." Carson looked slightly embarrassed at the mistake but didn't say anything.
"Why don't you boys sit down? We can play Team low-down."
"Rita, there are nine of us."
"Yeah, I know. Too bad Zelenka couldn't come. He's a master of poker,” Rita sighed. It was a well-known fact that she more than admired the Czech scientist. The only one who didn't know was the man himself.
"Well, I have to get changed anyway, so the rest of you can team up and play a hand while I'm away," Mia said moving towards the bathroom. They nodded and Rita started to shuffle the cards as everyone got situated. Aiden and Teyla were a team, as were Zora and Carson. Elizabeth and Rodney working together as a team as well but weren't looking at each other.
She walked into the bathroom and changed into her previous outfit. However, when she looked into the mirror it seemed as if it was liquid. A metallic silver color reminding her of when she had studied Mercury in chemistry class seemed to be growing and covering the walls around her. As it spread out around her the center of the mirror seemed to clear up and a scene became more visible.
Suddenly she was no longer in her bathroom, but in a hallway. The brush that had been in her hand was gone and her clothes had changed into something that looked like a reformed version of Princess Leia's outfit in “The Empire Strikes Back”, a long outer jacket that flowed to the floor with no sleeves. It was a dark blue while the outfit below was a lighter shade. The top was strapless and went down to about an inch above her navel and a skirt started right below it and flowed to the floor, getting slightly wider as it went down. Her hair was no longer in her regular ponytail but cut to her shoulders with bangs, a cut she always refused to get. Make-up was reminiscent of what she had seen of Ancient Egypt adorned her face if the reflection from the smooth marble of the statue that stood in front of her was to be believed.
The statue didn't seem that different. She had never seen it before, she knew that, but there was something familiar about it. Light fell on it from a beautiful stained glass ceiling, making the hallway- no room- look bright and colorful. It was the figure of a woman, a spear in one hand and a sword in another. The woman was tall, and the look upon her face showed determination. Her hair was styled very much in the style that Mia found herself wearing, but her face was more exotic looking. She wore what looked like a toga, reminding Mia of Lady Justice only without her blindfold. At her feet sat a small animal that looked like a cat, as well as a harp, a quill and paper.
The bottom was a block of the same material as was used in the Stargate, and had an inscription in Ancient written upon it.
"She would have been proud of you, my daughter." Mia turned to face the speaker and saw an old man standing near the entrance to the room. She could hear herself responding, even though she had no idea of who this man was or what she was doing there.
"I hope so, Father. I feel as if I have failed her. She defended this city with her life, and yet I am forced to abandon it."
"Different times call for different calls of action. You can not blame yourself." The room started to become blurry and Mia felt as if she was being pulled out of the scene. There was a part that wanted to stay and find out what on earth was going on, while the other part wanted to go back to where she knew what was going on.
She blinked and she was back in her bathroom, staring at her own reflection in the mirror.